Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi’s decision to split the World Blitz Championship title for the first time in history. It has shocked the chess community and sparked significant criticism. Carlsen, the world number one, and Nepomniachtchi of Russia split the Blitz title. After three sudden-death games failed to produce a winner. This was the first time the championship was awarded to two players. After the Norwegian requested that it be split due to the impasse.
Former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik has slammed the move, accusing the World Chess Organisation of failing to consider a rule for such a scenario. The first player to react to the result was US grandmaster Hans Niemann, who wrote a long post on social media. Carlsen won the opening two games of the final versus Nepo before the Russians returned to win two games, tying the score at 2-2.
The final went to a tiebreak, with both players playing three draws. At that point, Carlsen proposed splitting the title, and Nepo agreed. Soon after, additional strong grandmasters voiced their opinions on Magnus Carlsen and Nepomniachtchi’s scheme. This is not Niemann’s first clash with Carlsen or FIDE. Following his victory over Carlsen in the 2022 Sinquefield Cup, the American grandmaster was accused of cheating.
Carlsen-Nepo Blitz Title Share
Niemann wrote on X, “The chess world is officially a joke. THIS HAS NEVER BEEN DONE IN HISTORY. I can’t believe that the official body of chess is being controlled by a singular player FOR THE 2ND TIME THIS WEEK. THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE WORLD CHAMPION!” Niemann wrote. “FIDE goes from forfeiting Carlsen to creating an entirely new rule. Seems like the the regulatory body of chess, has no intention of being unbiased. They seem to only care about what one player thinks.”
Susan Polgar, an American-Hungarian chess grandmaster, pointed out that Nepomniachtchi and Daniil Dubov were deducted points for drawing at last year’s event. The two had made their knights jump around the board before deciding on a draw.
